JPS60264309A - Apparatus for enriching oxygen - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To collect stably dried oxygen-enriched air in obtaining the oxygen-enriched air from air using a membrane for selectively permeating oxygen, by evaporating water produced by cooling of the oxygen-enriched air in an evaporating dish for receiving the water with a heating element at a constant temperature. CONSTITUTION:Oxygen-enriched air for medical use is prepared. In the process, air is passed through an ordinary filter 18 and active carbon filter 19 to filter foreign matter, and the resultant air is passed through a fan 17 to give oxygen- enriched air, which is then sucked through a vacuum pump 5 and cooled by a finned heat exchanger 7. Moisture in the cooled oxygen-enriched air is converted into water in a water separator 8, introduced from a wick tube 9 into an evaporating dish 20 and evaporated by heat of a heating element 21 at a constant temperature. The oxygen-enriched air free of the moisture is then passed through a conduit 11, bacteria filter 13, flow control valve 14 and flowmeter 15 and supplied to patients requiring oxygen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an oxygen enrichment device and a drying device for condensed water.

Conventional configurations and their problems In recent years, medical oxygen supply devices used for oxygen therapy for patients with various respiratory and circulatory system diseases fill high-pressure cylinders with liquid oxygen produced in cryogenic separation plants. However, bringing high-pressure cylinders to medical clinics, homes, etc. is a matter of storage safety, regular inspections, and stable supply. However, there is a growing need for oxygen enrichment devices as a small-sized oxygen supply device to replace liquid oxygen.

A conventional oxygen enrichment device will be explained below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a conventional oxygen enrichment device.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a permselective membrane that selectively enriches oxygen; 2 is a permeable membrane module that supports this permselective membrane 1; 3 is a vacuum gauge that measures the degree of vacuum in the permselective membrane 1;
4 is a vacuum tube, 5 is a vacuum pump as a means for evacuating the part of the selectively permeable membrane 1, 6 is a first conduit for conveying enriched air from this vacuum pump 4, and 7 is enriched with oxygen. 8 is a water separator for separating water condensed by the heat exchanger 7; 9 is a water separator for separating water condensed by the heat exchanger 7;
is a wick tube that transports condensed water using capillary action, and 1o is an evaporator that dries water; Figure 2a,
As shown in b, it is composed of a bag-shaped hydrophilic porous foam 10a and a hydrophobic porous foam 10b. 11 is a second conduit carrying oxygen-enriched air after separating condensed water; 12 is a scrubber that removes contaminants from the oxygen-enriched air; 13 is a bacterial filter that removes bacteria; 14 15 is a flow rate adjusting pulp that adjusts the amount of enriched air, 15 is a flow rate divider that indicates the amount of enriched air, 16 is an outlet for taking out the enriched air to the outside of the device, and 17 is on the surface of the selectively permeable membrane 1. The operation of the oxygen enrichment device having the above-mentioned structure, which includes a diffusion fan that constantly sends fresh air, and a filter 18 that protects the surface of the selectively permeable membrane 1 from dust, will be explained below.

In short, the selectively permeable membrane 1 allows oxygen to permeate at a higher rate than nitrogen, and the selectively permeable membrane 1 and the permeable membrane module 2 are kept airtight and connected to the vacuum pump 6. By creating a pressure difference between vacuum tubes 1 and 4,
By transmitting pressure to the surface of the selectively permeable membrane 1, oxygen-enriched air is obtained and transported into the first conduit 6. This oxygen-enriched air is then cooled by a finned heat exchanger 7, and the condensed moisture in the air is separated into moderately dry air and water by a water separator 8.
This separated water is transferred to an evaporator 10 using a porous foam via a wick tube 9 using capillarity.
and dried naturally. The suitably dry air passes through a second conduit 11, passes through a scrubber 12 which removes contaminants from the oxygen-enriched gas, passes through a bacterial filter 13 which removes bacteria, and then passes through a quantity of oxygen-enriched air. 40% oxygen-enriched air is obtained from the outlet 16 through the flow meter 16, which adjusts the flow rate.

The vacuum gauge 3 indicates the differential pressure between the selectively permeable membrane 1 and the atmosphere,
The diffusion fan 17 constantly supplies fresh air to the selectively permeable membrane 1 through the filter 18, and blows oxygen-poor air out of the device. However, the drying method of the oxygen enrichment device as described above has the drawback that when the humidity is high in summer, as in Japan, natural drying cannot be performed and water overflows from the evaporator and leaks onto the floor. Was.

Page 5 Object of the Invention In view of the above two drawbacks, the present invention provides an oxygen enrichment device that can forcibly dry and evaporate water without being affected by the humidity of the outside air.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this object, the oxygen enrichment device of the present invention is provided with an evaporating dish for storing water separated by a water separator, and a constant temperature heating element for heating the evaporating dish.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of an oxygen enrichment device in one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, 1 is a selectively permeable membrane;
2 to the permeable membrane module 3 vacuum gauge, 4 vacuum tube, 6 vacuum pump, 6 first conduit, 7 heat exchanger with fins, 8 water separator, 9 wick tube, 11
is the second conduit, 13U1-bacterial filter, 14
is a flow rate adjusting pulp, 15 is a flow meter, 16 is an outlet,
17 is a diffusion fan, 18 is a filter, and 2 is the first
The configuration is the same as the one shown in the figure.

Reference numeral 19 denotes an activated carbon filter, 20 an evaporation plate with good heat conduction for storing separated water, 21 a constant temperature heating element for heating the evaporation plate 20, and 22 a set screw for fixing the constant temperature heating element.

Further, FIGS. 4 and 5 show an apparatus in which the configuration shown in FIG. 3 is actually used.

The operation of the oxygen enrichment device configured as described above will be explained below.

The selectively permeable oxygen membrane 1 allows oxygen to permeate at a higher rate than that of nitrogen, and is kept airtight by the permeable membrane module 2 that supports the selectively permeable membrane 1, and the differential pressure from the atmosphere is maintained by the vacuum pump 6. Oxygen-enriched air is obtained by transmitting a differential pressure to the selectively permeable membrane surface by means of the vacuum tube 4. This air is carried by a first conduit 6 and cooled by a finned heat exchanger 7;
The water separator 8 separates the condensed moisture in the air into appropriately dry air and water. This minute 7,X-
: The separated water is dropped into the evaporating dish 20 with good heat conduction through the wick tip 9 using capillary action, and the water is forcibly evaporated by the constant temperature heating element 21 that warms the evaporating dish 20. be dried. Further, a vacuum pump 5 and an evaporation plate 20 are installed on the exhaust path of the diffusion fan 17 that generates a flow of atmospheric air on the surface of the selectively permeable membrane 1, and absorbs the heat of the vacuum pump 6. The heated exhaust air is applied to the evaporating dish 2o. In addition, the suitably dry air passes through the second conduit 11 and passes through a bacterial filter 13 that removes bacteria from the oxygen-enriched gas, and oxygen-enriched air is obtained from the outlet 16 to be given to the patient. The vacuum gauge 3 indicates the differential pressure between the membrane and the atmosphere, and the diffusion fan 17, filter 18. The activated carbon filter 19 constantly supplies fresh, dirt-free air to the selectively permeable membrane 1, and the heat from the vacuum pump 6 is applied to the evaporating dish 2o at a rate of -6°2, 1.0 or more. According to this embodiment, as a method of drying the water separated from the water separator, if a structure is adopted in which the constant temperature heating element 21 is embedded in the evaporating dish 20, water will overflow from the evaporating dish 2o. Water often leaks onto the floor. In other words, at low temperatures, the relative humidity is low and the amount of moisture that condenses increases.
In conventional natural drying, there is no drying ability at low temperatures, so water leaks onto the floor and evaporates. This way, the dryer will not be affected by the outside temperature and water will not leak from the dryer like in natural drying. As can be understood from FIG. 6, the constant temperature heating element 21 generates more heat as the temperature decreases, and the characteristics of the selectively permeable membrane 1 change at low temperatures as shown in FIG. Since the amount of water that condenses increases as the temperature increases, the characteristics of the constant-temperature heating element 21 and the characteristics of the selectively permeable membrane 1 match, so that the amount of heat generated is controlled and no water leaks from the drying device.

Note that the nichrome heater does not match the characteristics of the permselective membrane 1 because the amount of heat generated does not change and remains constant at both low and high temperatures.

In addition, when the humidity is high, due to the characteristics of the selectively permeable membrane 1, a considerable amount of moisture partially passes through the membrane 9, increasing the amount of moisture condensing and increasing the amount of moisture to be dried. If high,
In natural drying, drying is impossible, but if the constant temperature heating element 21 is used, a stable drying device can be obtained.

As shown in Figure 8, even if the power supply voltage changes, the surface temperature does not change. It also has self-heating properties, allowing for stable drying. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 9, the temperature characteristics are also good.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, moisture in oxygen-enriched air can be removed to ensure drying, and a stable dry state can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional oxygen enrichment device, FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view showing an example of a concrete example of the device, and FIG. Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the same, Figure 6 is a diagram comparing the calorific value of a constant-temperature heating element and a nichrome heater, Figure 7 is a characteristic diagram of a selectively permeable membrane, and Figure 8 is a diagram showing the power supply voltage and voltage of a constant-temperature heating element. A characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the front temperature and FIG. 9 is a characteristic diagram showing the time required for the constant temperature heating element to reach a constant temperature. 1...Selective permeation membrane, 2...Permeation membrane module, 7...Heat exchanger, 8...Water separator, 20... Evaporating dish, 21... constant temperature heating element. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Fig. 2 Fig. 7/θ 2ρ Jl) 4ρ, N release 1 (IjiC)-. Figure 0-14 E ('C), Figure 8 tVf, viewing pressure (v) → Figure 9 Time →

Claims (1)

[Claims] A selectively permeable membrane that allows oxygen to permeate at a higher rate than nitrogen, a heat exchanger that cools the oxygen-enriched air through the selectively permeable membrane, and a heat exchanger that cools the air enriched with oxygen. An oxygen enrichment device comprising: a water separator for separating water; an evaporating dish for storing water separated by the water separator; and a fixed-temperature heating element for heating the evaporating dish.